Assessment of knowledge, attitude, practice, and associated Factors towards pediatric pain management among nurses Workingat jimma university medical center, jimma, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. This highlights that pain is not just a physical sensation but an emotional experience too. In simple words, pain is what the patient says, and hurts, which emphasizes the patient's experience. Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude, practice, and associated factors toward pediatric pain management among nurses at the pediatrics wards of Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC), Jimma, Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses working at the pediatric wards of JUMC. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The collected data was entered into Epi-Data version 4.6 and exported to statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 27 for further analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the data and a multivariate logistic regression model was computed to see the association between independent and dependent variables. The results are presented using narratives and tables. Result: A total of 85 nurses were included in the study; morethan half of them (57, 67.1%) were females. Over half of the participants had poor knowledge (44, 51.8%) and practice (47, 55.3%) about pediatrics pain management. Male nurses had poor knowledge than female nurses [p=0.001, AOR=0.241, 95% CI (0.070, 0.837)], and those nurse with age group from 31-40 had poor knowledge than those with age group 20-30[p=0.001, AOR=0.214, 95% CI (0.075, 0.611)] regarding pediatric pain management. Diploma holders have negative attitude toward pediatric pain management than Master’s nurses [p=0.002, AOR=0.229 and 95% CI (0.054, 0.971),] and nurses with 2-5 year experience had negative attitudes than those with experience >5 years’ [p=0.042, AOR=0.282 and 95% CI (0.102, 0.783)] regarding pediatric pain management. Nurses in the age range of 31-40 years had poor practice when we compare with nurses who were on the age range of 20-30 years old [p=0.001, AOR=0.214 and 95% CI (0.075, 0.611)], and nurses with a diploma had poor practice compared to those with a master’s degree (p = 0.034, AOR = 0.179, 95% CI: 0.033, 0.969) Conclusion and recommendation: Nurses working at pediatric ward of JUMC have poor iv knowledge and practice about pediatrics pain management but they have positive attitude. Thus, the situation demands various educational and quality improvement initiatives that could enhance the nurse‘s knowledge and practice in the area of pain management.